Rum

Author's Note: This is the first time I've ever written anything outside of school writing so don't be too mean. This is set during DMC right before the "Curiosity" scene.

Disclaimer:I do not own Jack or Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean...they belong to Disney

(BIG THANKS to my awesome beta and best friend bright-eyesxX she is truly amazing)

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Rum.

The word itself was intoxicating to the notorious pirate. Once a bottle of that beautiful, russet liquid was in his hands, it was his and his alone.

He never offered his rum to any of his crew, or any male for that matter. Not many were deserving of an offer of HIS rum. It didn't matter how hard the scorching sun was beating down on their backs or how hard they were working on his Pearl. He still wouldn't offer it to any of them. They didn't truly deserve to share his drink with him.

Not yet anyway.

They hadn't done enough yet to be deserving of an offer from the captain to share in his precious drink that, currently, he was holding in his hand. He didn't mind the crew having rum. He minded them having HIS rum. In his eyes, it was a privilege to be drinking with the captain, but to be sharing said captain's drink was another matter. It was an honor. An honor that would only be bestowed upon those he thought qualified.

To him, a qualified person meant a person who, after careful deliberation, he thought highly of and respected. A person who was willing to give up anything and everything to get what they wanted. A person that was just like him.

He watched the woman before him. He watched her saddened eyes bore through everything in their path and couldn't help but to take a seat beside her.

"My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me that you are troubled."

He shook the liquid around in the bottle containing his magnificent drink. If he was about to listen to a woman in emotional turmoil, he had to make sure he had enough to last him.

"I just thought I'd be married by now. I'm so ready to be married."

He was momentarily taken aback by the words that had escaped her mouth. He didn't think the free bird that was perched beside him honestly wanted to marry that… blacksmith. He thought she was looking for more adventure and wanted something more exhilarating than buckles and horseshoes.

"To each his own," He thought in the privacy of his mind, "But for the love of Jones, WHY would she choose THAT particular path for a soul that is so obviously fighting against the normality's of life? Her soul is undeniably fighting for freedom. Never would I give up my freedom for some….stupid whelp."

It finally hit him. She wanted to get married, and the dreary blacksmith was the only one offering at the moment. This was the only way to get what she wanted, even if it wasn't what she was truly longing for. Before he even knew what he was doing, he heard the pop of the cork leaving his bottle as he offered his rum to her.

She deserved it, after all.